Monster
by Virgin Queen 15
Summary: Sarah has a wish in need of granting, and Jareth has a heart in need of mending... Can the love of a Goblin King save a life? Or will Sarah not make it to her twentieth birthday?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Excerpts from the Published Copy of **_**The Labyrinth's Touch**_** by young author S. Williams and a Preface of Sorts**

"…the dwarf was not given to chuckling, but in the presence of such a strange girl who was intent on making a fool of herself, a chuckle was the result of a gurgled swallow of air and a stifled hiccup. She was not pleased with his humor, she was indeed quite angry. Her eyes flared and she turned away from him facing the dark hallway before her. Avoiding_ Cleaners_ was the least of their problems, as was Hoggle's need to satisfy his happiness with an eruption of laughter. Sarah pursed her lips and took a step forward, the sand grains and small rocks of the ground crunching beneath her weight. Hoggle's laughter died as she moved into the darkness.

'Shouldn't take that path, little lady.' He remarked.

'Why not?' She turned back to him and her eyebrows bent down in a frown.

'Leads to places unlike what you've ever seen before,' the dwarf said. He sensed the disturbance in what she was doing; it was not along the lines of the story. The direction she was turned to would lead her straight to the secret passages. Passages that led to the Castle's Underground System, a twisting maze within the great maze that only the King was permitted to wander. No one knew what was inside, though they all knew the entry ways. She was walking straight to it.

Sarah ignored him, and kept walking for the darkness. She suddenly paused and then vanished all together. Hoggle shook his head and turned to meet the King, who had undoubtedly appeared beside him.

'Why the devil did you let her go that way?' Jareth asked, watching the glinting dust flutter in the air where she had once stood.

'Figured it would be a nice place for you to have a sensible conversation with her, show her you're sensitive side if you wanted.' Hoggle smirked and began to walk away. There was a change in his step, a brighter, smoother jaunt that Jareth didn't notice but would have been noticeable for any other. It spoke of courage; it spoke of a dwarf being greater then a High Fae, but for justified reasons. The Fae as it were was a fool, for all who trespass on the waves of love are fools. And this King was very much in love…"

Jareth stopped reading and placed the book down caringly. He slide his gloved finger over the cover, tracing the face of the King the artist of the cover had portrayed, laughing at the sincere caution that Sarah had been taking in her book. She must have known he would read it, but it wasn't as if he was totally oblivious to the fact that she would write of a romance between the King and the Runner. It was not a question in his mind. The only fact that surprised him was that she used her own real name for the character. This was unlike the other Runners who had gone on to write of their adventures. Though none of these others had been successful they had fragments of memory that were mistaken for dreams that were considered their own ideas and they were made into books. It happened all the time. This time shouldn't be any different. He had a wildly vast collection of novels about his Labyrinth; they had their own special bookcase in the Castle Library, and were always free for the public to read. Not that goblins were adapting readers; the books were shared, loved even when the world was portrayed in a positive manner. Sarah's book was by far the most detailed and accurate, for she was the only Runner left with her memories in tact. The book Jareth was reading was the first of her novels, and though the romance was vague there was an underlying honesty in it. More vibrant in the descriptions she made of him, Jareth could see she was not so naïve to what he had been implying all those years before. Maybe in the end she really just didn't like him that way. But no…. That didn't correlate with the second novel of hers, the one that had a most interesting cover. Titled _Love's Last Maze_, it depicted the Goblin King again, but this time cradled in his arms was the image of a dark-haired girl, one with green eyes, and a devilish grin. It had to be Sarah. He picked the second novel, which he had not come to read yet, off the shelf and flipped through the pages. No words struck a chord with his interest as he skimmed until he was flipping through the page of the last chapter. The word _kiss _caught his eye and he stopped to read.

"…her eyes drooped, heavy with the final sleep, very near ready to shut forever when Jareth had finally found her. The tusk of the Wild Boar was enclosed in her stomach, the blood did not spill though the puncture swelled as if waiting to burst. Her face was nicked and bruised, orange smears, boar blood, were streaked across her skin. Her sword was nowhere to be found, but upon hearing a muffled grunt Jareth spotted the lump in the darkness of the Boar, her sword trapped in its ribcage. Jareth approached the girl cautiously. The girl was no longer a girl, he realized mournfully, the child was a woman now, just in her prim and she was dying. He kneeled down next to her, unable to speak, hardly able to breathe. Her hair had been braided earlier, meant to keep out of her face, but it was loose and soaked now, shiny in the glow of his lantern.

'Sarah…' His own voice surprised him, dry and morose. He hadn't ever been so sad before. It didn't make any real sense, why the death of an insignificant mortal girl meant so much to him. But it didn't really, did it? No, he decided. She had said yes to this mission, failed obviously and that didn't matte. Mortals were expendable, easy to take, though just as easy to harm. She had at least killed the Boar, though the bloodstone it had in its chest was not retrieved. As if in answer to his thoughts, a hitching sound came from the girl, and he turned to her. The blood had begun to seep down the sides of her body, sinking into the grass around her. Her eyes rolled blindly in her head, but she thrust a tight fist forward, presenting a bloody wad when she uncurled her fingers.

'Bloodstone.' She said plainly. He took the wad gingerly between a thumb and forefinger. He looked down at her, and smiled faintly. He didn't know what to do. Kiss her? Thank her? Kill her quickly so she wouldn't feel anymore pain?

Her voice interrupted his thoughts. 'Jareth….sir….'

'What is it you want?' He whispered as gentle as he could.

'To…say… that I know you never did…' she coughed and a surge of red slime leaked out from her lips. 'But…I always loved you.'

As if this confession was the only thing that had kept her alive, its birth became her death and she coughed for a long time, blood everywhere until her little body could no longer take it and she finally slipped into death.

Jareth winced at her dying breath, waited for the blood to stop, then stood. Gathering her up in his arms, regret hugging his throat tightly, he began to walk. He didn't know where he would walk, or if he would ever stop. He walked and thought, hard and without fail. Finally he came to a conclusion. He pulled the girl up in his arms, her corpse still just slightly warm. He smoothed the hair out of her face and laid her down. The next hour of the night he cleaned her. Using water from a crystal he washed the blood away. He removed the tusk and wrapped a ripped square of his cloak around her middle where the injury was. He shut her wild green eyes, which had turned grey slightly with emptiness, and rubbed the smears of dirt away from her dainty face. By the time the ordeal was done she was cold as ice and Jareth was exhausted. But using just a little bit of magic he dug her grave. Unable to bear the thought of her being eaten to scraps by the maggots he took a crystal from his sack and whispered an incantation. The crystal changed, melted and grew until it became as large as her body and wide as her hips and shoulders. The Crystal Casket was a lovely piece of work; one he knew would have been a collected art if he had produced it anywhere else. But he had made it for her. Sarah. Never _his _Sarah. Only Sarah. He took up her body in his arms and kissing her cheek he laid her down in the coffin. He had traced the bottom with a smooth cushion and with a flick of his wrist her scrappy shredded garments became lace and silver ornaments, silky and shinning like a moonbeam. Her hair twisted and curled, long and clean and beautiful. He draped a thin, near translucent blanket over her and let white rosebuds drop from his ungloved finger tips to adorn her. The only mortal he had remembered. He covered the casket, and let his eyes take their last glance at her. For a long time he was unable to bury her, and then he realized he did not need to. He whispered a youth curse on the corpse, so she would never rot, her body would never change. He then split three trees, using only his grandest magic he built a small gazebo, dying the wood white, and spinning silver strands into it. Very soon the monument was done and her casket lay in the middle. He set one last spell to make it impossible for her body to be moved. He left then.

He left her there, his Sarah. His sweetest love. He mumbled endearments as he walked, his arms empty, his heart finally open and beating with passion that was slowly draining away to nothing. Nothing. Nothing tra la la."

Jareth stopped; appalled that he had reached the end of the book. He flipped the page to read anything else he could find and sighed. There was nothing else.

"Well," He said aloud. "Might as well go ask precious what it is she intends to do about this abomination of a book." Casually he slipped out of Underground. He appeared to be in all the state of calmness though inside his heart was wild and his fear was rising. Her depiction of him was a horror. He was a monstrosity in her eyes who wouldn't even try to save her if she were dying. Seeing as she was totally wrong, it was fit to go along and correct her. He knew she wouldn't want to live under false information. He smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Before we begin I want to thank all of my reviewers, you are all very kind to take the time to send me a note of encouragement.**

HellsTheTwerd: I always write when I'm going to only make it a one shot, this one certainly goes on for a little while, hope you enjoy!

Rocky181: Here you go! Hope you like it!

Gwenhwyfar: I believe there is always a happy ending, just a matter of perspective. I promise it will end happy! 

Jessethevampire: Exceptionally kind review! Thank you a million! Here's more, sorry if it wasn't soon enough

jinx1764: Thank you! Here's some more! 

Greta: Though that may not be constructive, I suppose "super lame" is criticism to be taken seriously. Thank you, I hope the next bit won't be so bad 

Kiruya: Thank you! Enjoy the next bit 

**Chapter 2: In which Sarah soothes blisters and Jareth spends the night, small excerpt of poetry included**

Sarah was typing slower then normal. Her latest novel was going slow like long dull lecture. It was a third book to go along with her Labyrinth Series, yet this one had a much gloomier take then the others had. She had killed off Sarah, the fictional doppelganger of herself in an attempt to make the story more interesting, yet her readers were angry, her editor nearly tore her throat out and was almost prepared to force her to change it. However, Sarah had explained that it was never really meant to be a love story, and either the sound of her voice on the phone had changed her Editor Clarissa's mind, or she understood the true meaning of the books. The latter not being likely at all.

She did not notice the blisters forming on her finger tips at first, it was almost an hour after their beginning to swell that she paused in her writing and looked down at her aching hands.

"Yikes," She mumbled standing up from her old computer. "Better bandage that." She opened her door and screamed.

"Hello Precious thing," Jareth smiled darkly. Regarding her red pussy fingers he frowned. "What have you done _now_?"

"Nothing that would concern you," She grumbled after her thudding heart settled slightly and stepped around the richly dressed man. Richly dressed, she considered because he wore a suit of black leather, his riding boots and a trench coat tinted dark blue. He was smiling slightly as she pushed past him and followed her to the bathroom.

He watched her in silence as she cleaned and bandaged her fingers. She was tense at his presence, unable to keep her thoughts focused as she cared for her writing injury. She did not want to appear disturbed around him, so she focused hard on keeping her head as she turned to face him.

"Why are you here?" She asked plainly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well," He said, "I was recently reading your book, what was it…" He puzzled quietly then clicked his tongue. "Love's Last Maze, it was alright, though the ending was very…disappointing. Not at all as I imagined it to be."

"Well, it wasn't your story was it?" She moved past him again but did not return to her bedroom. Knowing he would follow she was keen on not letting him read what she had recently typed up on the computer, so she walked down stairs to the den and sat down on the couch. He took a seat on the chair opposite her, a coffee table in between them.

"If it had been my story," He said. "I wouldn't have killed the female lead."

"She had to die," Sarah said. "It wouldn't have worked any other way."

"Why not?" He was nearly whining and it was a strange sound.

"That was the only way for the king to understand her significance." She answered.

"By the way you wrote me, you made it seem as though I had no feeling whatsoever for your death." He said. He was beginning to grow angry with her.

"What?" Sarah squeaked. "I wasn't writing about us!"

"Us?" A childish grin cut his stern mouth.

"I only used our names. It was not my intention to fill your head with ideas that I would want to be your slave." She pulled her legs up to her chest and laid her chin on her knees and frowned at him.

"I believe I said that_ I_ would be _your _slave my darling, not the other way around." He relaxed back in the seat and leaned on his hand, watching her with his mismatched eyes.

"Oh, and along with being my slave you wanted me to fear you and do as you say?" She snapped. "Did you realize then how contradicting that was?"

"Fearing me was the only way I thought I would earn respect from you," He said. "And as long as you did what I told you, no one in Underground would've harmed you. Many Fae are against humans. Anyways, I believe there is one thing you are forgetting." He raised an eyebrow. She seemed unfazed as she sighed.

"I only wish," She said. "That my readers could understand why I killed Sarah." Not the wish Jareth was expecting or really wanting.

"Why did you?" He asked quietly. He had been wondering himself.

Sarah met his eyes for the first time that night, but she couldn't answer him. "Did you come over just to patronize me about my book? Or did you have other intentions?"

Jareth cocked his head and straightened. Her skin was paler then normal he noticed, and her eyes were sad and shadowed. "I merely wished to pay a visit to my only successful Runner, it has been a while since I've spoken with you my dear, I only want to… talk."

She didn't seem to trust his answer, but something in her expression softened. She let herself smile softly and nodded her head.

"It's a bit late," She said. "But if you want to stay the night I have a guest room open." Her eyes were hopeful.

Jareth smiled and nodded.

When Jareth had gone off to sleep in the guestroom Sarah ran to her bedroom and locked the door. She breathed as deeply as she could before she began to cough and wheeze. A violent and fiery pain licked her insides and she leaned over. Her middle was on fire. When finally the pain subsided and she could breathe easy she leaned back against the door and laid her cheek against the cool wood.

The pain, the cruelest pain, it had been her reason for not going to college like everyone else. The doctor said she really didn't have much time, but she lasted a year longer then anyone had thought. She knew that next month her family would scoop her up and take her home to lie in bed all day and die. She knew she wouldn't last for next Christmas. Toby was only six years old. She was only nineteen.

She saw a scrap of paper on the floor, it was a poem she had abandoned earlier that week and never wanted to pick up. But now she crawled across the floor and picked it up. She whispered it aloud:

"It's not a sword or stone

It's not the love I wished for but never had

It's only cancer

And nothing should stop me

Nothing should keep me from flying away

But here is the truth

And truth is plain

Death has got me

And now there's no way…"

She stopped. She'd never been one for poetry and this poem was not a favorite. She dropped it again and sighed deeply. She knew she would need to put a smile on her face for the morning. She also knew she wouldn't be able to sleep at all. She got on her bed and curled up in a ball. Morning was a long time away, and she was sure to have more fits of pain. She just had to wait 'til morning… she could do it.

When Sarah left her room the morning had come and no sleep had found her. The sun lit the house on the eastern side, sending shadows here and there, but leaving the place entirely brightened. The shine of new day did not please her though, and she was left to wander with useless legs aching about her small home. The country side outside her house was fresh and green, the lush valley open before the break of green that turned to sand and led to the beach. She wondered if a mid-morning walk would loosen her tense muscles, but decided against it. She instead settled in the kitchen, addressing the open book she had abandoned a day earlier.

"You did not sleep, precious." Jareth's voice made her jump.

She turned to him, and blushed softly. He was shirtless; his hair more tangled and mussed then ever, his trousers snug but his feet bootless and naked. The feet caught her attention.

"Your feet are enormous." She mumbled. Her eyes rose to meet his and her insides chilled at his dark, sultry smile.

"You did not sleep, I hope it was not my presence that kept you awake." He sat down on the chair beside hers. Ungloved fingers moved to comb out a strand of her long dark hair. Suddenly aware of how long it had been since her last shower, Sarah squirmed away and wrapped her arm back to pull her hair over her shoulder.

"I did not sleep because a sovereign of the Underground was in the room beside mine," Sarah did not want to answer with the truth, but a bitter rendition of it came out. "I couldn't sleep because I'm sick." Huffing a bit she turned away to look toward the sliding glass doors that led to the back deck. It was annoyingly sunny outside, brisk and clear. Normally she wouldn't have minded the glow, but on that day it only made her gloomy.

She didn't exactly realize the danger in telling the Goblin King that she was unwell. Within the hour Jareth had summoned up to forty goblins, all different kinds of physicians from Underground. Sarah didn't see the good of having a Goblin Doctor, they were more destructive then healing and soon she had to usher them through her mirror back to Underground, against Jareth's unhappy grumblings.

"So, if you won't trust my doctors how's about you tell your god friend the Goblin King what it is that's wrong with you?" Jareth's voice was teasing but his eyes were demanding.

"Got a cold," She lied and rubbed her nose slightly for emphasis. But he wasn't buying it. So she slumped down into a soft chair and looked up at him, dark eyes probing blankly for a lie deep inside her to be born. A lie that could be bought.

"Fine then," She said, the exasperation of her tone was real, which made it easier to talk. "I'm going away in a month, someplace very far and I won't be coming back. I'm prematurely homesick."

Jareth sat on the coffee table in front of her, his mismatched eyes disbelieving, his lips tight in a firm expression of fret. She didn't find it in herself to counsel him on it, a pain had started up in her again, reminding her of her fleeting time and willing her to request something she wouldn't have requested for in any other situation or world.

"Jareth," She bit her tongue saying his name. "I have a wish."


	3. Chapter 3

I wish I had the time to give a personal thanks to all my readers, and my reviewers. I hope you know you are all wildly appreciated. And for the sweetheart who commented on my "god" verses "good" typo in the previous chapter, sharp eyes! I can't believe I missed that! But to be clear however godly the Goblin King is, I meant for him to say "your good friend the Goblin King" but if you'd rather him be godly, I'll be sure to add that line again to commemorate the mistake that suited his personality. Love you all! Here's the next chapter:

**Chapter 3: In which a wish is made, though only after a temper is snapped and a goblin gets dumped in a sink**

Sarah immediately wished that she had not asked for a wish, maybe she could wish for that? She shut her mouth, tongue bleeding where she nicked it with her teeth and wouldn't look him in the eye.

Finally aggravated Jareth sighed. "Sarah, just wish for something,_ anything_. You look horrible."

"Why, thank you." She grumbled. "Never mind the wish."

"Oh, no," He said, "Don't you do that to me little girl. I move the stars…"

"For no one." She turned away and left the kitchen. Once alone in the hallway she doubled over, holding herself inward as the pain burned through her. But when she heard foot-falls coming up behind her she straightened.

Jareth stopped in his walk to find her, struck by the paleness that had overtaken her face. He moved an outstretched hand toward her, too far to touch, but near enough to make her cringe away.

"Sarah," He said sadly. "Why can't you see things my way?" With a silent pop he vanished, leaving Sarah alone again. All traces of him in the house were gone she found when she went through the house.

Feverishly she began to believe his coming was just a dream, something pain medication was doing to her head. Until she remembered she refused to take medication. The day passed normally after that, peaceful and lonely, but that was the way she had grown to like it. On her own she could think clearly, with nothing to distract or influence her. But late in the afternoon the phone rang.

Sarah hesitated before answering, knowing full well she was damning her self to another argument with her father, or Karen. She greeted the caller and waited. But there was only silence on the other line.

"Hello?" She asked again. "I know someone is there, I can hear you breathing." She waited. Then a gentle sigh came from the other end, one Sarah recognized without a doubt.

"Sarah," A voice whispered. "It's your mother."

Sarah snapped the phone back down on its cradle. The sound of the crash was like a whisper compared to the ringing in her ears. She rubbed her clammy hands together, a cold sweaty chill taking over her body. Linda had called her. Her mother had _called_ her. Almost twenty years old. She mused to herself, I'm almost twenty years old and she hasn't spoken to me since I was five. How long had that been? Even gentle math felt like a struggle to her circuit-blowing brain cells. Fifteen, she realized.

She waited ten minutes before picking up the phone and dialing her old house number. At the moment, Karen felt almost like a greater comfort then her own mother.

It rang twice before being picked up.

"Sarah?" Her father asked.

"Yes," She said. "It's me, how did you know?"

"You just hung up on your mother." He said, though he didn't sound peeved.

"She's _there_?" Sarah gasped.

"Of course she's here," Robert answered. "She's been here for a week now, trying to contact you. But you never pick up the phone or read your emails."

Sarah didn't know how to answer.

"Anyway, she wants to come and see you."

Sarah felt her heart stop.

"Sarah, did you hear me?"

No answer.

"Sarah…"

"I won't be here, Dad." The lie burst out of her. "I'm… I'm going away, some place I've never been before. Just so I get the chance to see something before it's time to go back to the hospital."

There was silence and then a broken sigh. "Sarah," He sounded more like he was scolding her for not completing her homework. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I mean, I'm leaving." She stood, the cord of the phone fighting to keep her down. "Tell… Tell Linda I'll be home in three weeks."

She hung up the phone. Her heart was heavy. A sharp pain filled her. The tumor-baby was kicking. But this time she ignored the pain and went to her bedroom. From her closet she dragged out a giant suitcase, the expensive kind with wheels and a handle. It was a muted green. It had been a gift from her Editor. There was a little card still tied to the handle, on it read the words: For when you travel the world, little dreamer. Sarah hadn't gotten the chance to use it. Not since her diagnosis killed any dreams of traveling the world.

She began to pack up. Clothes, copies of her books, an old stuffed bear Toby had stopped playing with years after she'd given it to him named Lancelot. When she had everything she thought she needed she turned to her vanity. There was a drawer, a locked drawer that she never opened. But that night she did. Its contents were varied though they were all significant to one thing. One event and place that had changed her life even more then cancer. She reached down to the bottom and felt the soft leather of the book. Dislodging it from under a Goblin King statue she slipped it into her carry on bag. Then she sat down on her bed, shutting her eyes, her case on the floor beside her, her carry-on slung over her head.

Then she reopened her eyes. How did this work exactly? _I wish the goblins would come take me away right now? _Or did she need to be more specific? _I wish the Goblin King would come and take me away right now?_ Yes, that should do it.

Breathing deeply she began to speak. "Alright, Jareth, ready for that wish? I wish the Goblin King would come take me away…_right now_." The last part added in a rush.

There was a low rumbling sound, like distant thunder. Then a tapping at her window.

She turned and saw a squat little goblin peering at her through the glass. She rose to open the latch for him. But this was a mistake for he darted into her room and onto her bed, prancing about like a hyper puppy.

"Lady made a wish!" He hollered over and over again. "Wish, wish, wish!"

"Who are you?" Sarah tried not to sound so harsh, but when you asked for the Goblin King and only got Goblin you were bound to be a little disappointed.

"Jay-jay's helper! I come when he's too busy!" The crinoline on her pillows seemed to amuse him and he chomped down on the fabric.

"Hey! Don't do that!" Sarah snatched the pillow away from the little devil's mouth. He made a sound akin to a kitten growling and dove for the pile of clothes she'd left on the floor. But she caught him round his middle before he could shred a sock to pieces and lifted him gingerly by the ears to look at him.

"Don't do that! Don't do that!" He grumbled, trying to squirm his way free.

"Hush, you, I have some questions." Sarah snapped.

"Fine fine!" The creature squealed. "Answer, answer!"

"Okay, first question." Sarah said. "Where is the Goblin King?"

"Sleep, sleepy man," The goblin said. "Jay-jay sleep."

"So he's too lazy to come and get me?" Sarah laughed.

"Yes!"

"That wasn't a question," Sarah said. "Now, you are here to bring me to Underground right?"

He nodded vigorously.

"Once there, will I be the Goblin King's prisoner? Unable to return to Aboveground?" She had to be sure, though she wasn't keen on coming back to Aboveground she knew she needed to.

The goblin frowned. "You would _want _to come back?" For a moment his voice didn't sound so…goblin-like, more adult in manner and tone. She frowned and squinted at him, but dismissed it.

"Yes, I need to." She said.

"Why?" He sounded exasperated, like he just couldn't believe his huge ears.

"Because!" She said. Then gave up. "Can you keep a secret?"

He nodded with much less vigor then before as if he sensed the danger in her words.

"Alright," She paused then smiled oddly. It was her nervous smile, one that popped up whenever she was afraid of something uncontrollable. "I have cancer." She said.

The goblin looked confused, and then he said, "Crab?"

"No, no," Sarah hated this; it was like explaining cookies to a little child who only ever ate vegetables. "It's a terminal disease." She set him down on her bed and he stared up at her with big, shiny eyes.

"It means that I won't live for very much longer, in less then a month I have to return home, here and go to the hospital until I die." It was easy to say it, she'd been explaining this to so many people before. She turned from the goblin that was still as a statue on her bed. Her heart was heavy, so she let it crumble down inside her.

"You must not tell the king," She said. "You must not."

"But why not?" The goblin stood up on his toes. His eyes were angry.

"Because he will try to fix it, and you can't fix cancer." She said.

"I bet _he_ could." The goblin said.

She turned away, her eyes a glow with sadness, her expression stiff and near bland. The goblin was quiet, he didn't make a sound, but she heard him move slowly over the bed, down on the floor over to where she stood. She felt then a pair of wiry arms wrap around her leg and a rough face bury itself there. The goblin's body shivered a little, only gently as though warped by emotion. Then she felt him move away and she looked down at him. His eyes were wide with sorrow, the whiskers on his cheeks turned outward like a cat's.

"What's your name, anyway?" She asked.

"They call me Germy." He said.

She cocked her head and frowned at him, but the frown changed to a smile and she laughed an honest laugh. Germy laughed to, smiling like a child. He laughed harder and harder until he collapsed on her carpet and started to choke. She giggled along with him until she saw his face turning blue and the little bright tears sliding down his cheeks. Then she realized he had started to sob.

"Germy!" Feeling only slightly goofy calling his name she picked up the creature in her arms and carried him quickly to the kitchen where she squished him under the faucet and turned on the chilly water. He squealed and fussed and tried to, still sobbing, wrench free of the unwanted shower, but she did not release him until his sobs quieted and his face turned back to a sort of green blue. She pulled him up into her arms, soaking wet and she held him tightly while using on hand to snatch a dish towel. She wrapped him in the towel and hushed him.

"Try not to do that again," She said gently and bobbed him like a baby slightly on her hip. He grumbled what sounded like a curse but then went limp in her hold and relaxed. She let him curl up on her chest. It was odd, having a goblin there, fingers clutching a strand of her long hair, face turned sideways against her breast breathing slowly. It reminded her of holding baby Toby, and a sudden ache filled her, making her clutch Germy a little tighter.

"You make good Mommy." His little voice said. "I never had a Mommy."

Struck by his words Sarah peered down at the goblin, eyes wide. "How old are you?" She asked.

He shrugged; a helter-skelter movement that made his bony shoulders stick out. "I donno, Jay-jay says I was wished away when I was only an infant, and that was…" He focused hard. "A while ago, I don't 'member. But he says I'm clever, and for what I'm worth, I won't always be a goblin. He says that one day he'll find someone who can take care of me, and then he'll let me grow up."

Sarah was confused. Beyond comprehension and all thought she was confused. This goblin was a wished away child, so strange, so young and yet so ageless. Was this what Toby could've been? She let her expression soften.

"Germy," She said in the gentlest voice she'd used since getting sick. "I promise that until my time has come to an end that I will take care of you. I will be your mommy."

His eyes widened and an almost human quality came over his face, there was more then surprise in his eyes. "And Germy will take care of you!" He shrieked. But the light passed off in his eyes, like a candle being blown out by the wind from a window. "But…you want to die that much?"

"_What?"_ Sarah said. "I don't _want_ to die, not at all!"

"But, Jay-jay, he can help you!"

She couldn't argue him, his eyes were so reproachful yet a flicker of hope was in them. She sighed and gave him a small smile. "I'll talk to him."

He squealed and cheered while she walked them into her room. She gasped when she came through the door. It was entirely empty.

She looked down at Germy. "Where did…?" The goblin smiled.

"You rascal!" She teased and tickled his green stomach. With a pop, he transported them into Underground. Sarah was blinded for a moment, only then to find she was standing, with Germy in her arms in a dimly lit Escher room.

"Oh, god!" She squealed. "Not this place again!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Dance of the Drunk Goblin King or The Rum's Last Thought**

Germy was a nervous bundle of goblin in her arms. She herself was tense, the shadows were moving all around the place, she couldn't tell up from down.

"Germy why are we here?" She tried to whisper, but the excitement all around her made that quite difficult.

"Donno," He mumbled. "Magic's attached to Jay-jay."

"Are you saying that we got sucked into this hell-hole because he's in here?" She asked. She thought she caught sight of a figure walking past her left eye, but when she turned to focus in on it, nothing was there This sent a chill through her and she looked down at Germy uneasily.

"Yup."

She sighed angrily. "He's probably watching me panic right now."

"Are you panicking?" Germy's voice seemed older, philosophical even.

She thought for a moment, trying to discover what it was that she was feeling. She realized pretty quickly that it wasn't panic, but it wasn't even anything related to fear. She felt settled, like she'd slipped her feet into warm, well fitting slippers and reclining on a chair set to match the contours of her back. Not really her first idea of a Labyrinth-reaction, but a reaction none the less, one that made her stagger her angry thoughts.

Still holding her goblin Sarah stepped forward, walking to a small flight of stairs where she descended to find two sets leading in opposite directions, one up the other down. She chose the one going up; it was a habit of hers she'd formed to always go up. Ever since she had made the mistake of going the way she was pointed in the Handed Hallway to the Oubliette she had gone up when she'd been given the option to go down. It was a chilling memory, going down into the darkness, unsure and afraid. But oh so ready to do anything to save Toby.

Lost in thought she hardly noticed the doorway leading to a stairway she recognized as the entrance she'd used to get into this room on her Run. She made a beeline for it, against Germy's wishes to stay and play in the Room of Eternal Headaches. Snorting to herself, she was reminded of a scene from her third book, the unpublished one… She began to whisper it quietly to herself as she slowly descended the stairs that she knew led to the Goblin King's throne room:

"…He shrugged to the dwarf, but the creature didn't move, even when the King tossed the end of his riding crop his way. The throne room exploded in a cacophony of sounds, squabbling creatures and arguing Fae who had assembled. They were all angry with Jareth, he was aware of that, but he was not in the mood to deal with them, especially Hoggle. But the dwarf was the most persistent of them all. He was ravenous and angry, all over the death of his mortal. Sarah hadn't really done much to Underground. Nothing at all… Since her death he'd felt so much calmer, less agitated, it was a relief to know you didn't need to watch over a stupid mortal child anymore. He remembered her burial and wondered if these people would've been less cross with him had he summoned them to see her passing. He decided plainly that if they had been there or not they would have blamed him for her death. Even though the boar killed her…"

She stopped in remembering, slightly ashamed at how cruelly she'd written him. She stopped in walking down the stairs as well, having come to the bed in the tower that would draw her into the Throne room.

"Let's go!" Germy said, in a loud voice. If she'd gained any brownie points before by sneaking down the stairs to remain aloof she lost all of them then when her little Goblin had announced their arrival at the top of his lungs. So she stepped out into the room to find it was empty of all but one person; a single solitary figure who sat sideways hunched slightly, a book in their lap on the throne.

He didn't notice her, Sarah and her goblin, but she noticed him and recognized him. Jareth was dressed calmly; it was the only word she could use to describe it, his torso covered by a loose fitting poet's shirt, his lower half dressed in comfortable trousers that ended mid-calf. He had nice legs, she noticed and his feet were bare. He was drooped over the chair in an awkward fashion and he was breathing oddly. Sarah caught the smell of strong liquor, one she was unable to name, but one that she knew made anybody good and drunk. She cocked her head, trying to squint through the mild darkness to focus on his shadowed face. He looked pale, with heavy bags under his eyes and his hair was more tangled then normal. It looked as though he was about ready to drop asleep in his throne.

Then he noticed her.

"Sarah!" He jumped up on wobbly legs and smiled at her like a child does on Christmas. His miss-matched eyes were wide and glazed over.

"Hello, sir." She said quietly. Germy struggled out of her arms and jumped to the floor.

"So!" He yelled. It was not an angry yell, just a drunk one. "You've decided to come here or am I just dreaming you up? You look lovely!" This is what he said but it really sounded something akin to _You's 'cided to cooom 'ere er em I juss dreeemin' yoou oop? Yuuu look lawvely!_

Sarah smiled awkwardly, holding back nervous giggles. He stumbled toward her, and she took a step back, wary of the drunken Fae.

"You're not very nice sometimes," He mumbled taking another larger step toward her so she was backed up against the wall. His hand came up to twist two fingers into her hair and comb through it. "You can be so cruel." _Yuu cahn bee soooo croooell._

He leaned down to smell her hair. "But I love you anyway." _Boot I love yuu annawey._

"What!" She gasped.

He laughed, hard and long. "You know! You know! You…don't know?" He laughed again but this time it was softer, gentler. "I love you, Sarah Williams." _I love yuu, Sahrha Willyumss._

She watched then, as he looked away then back down at her, and sighed.

"I know you can't love me back," He said, sounding like a forlorn child. "But I don't think it'd be bad if I just steal one."

"One wha…?" But she couldn't finish what she was asking because his lips came down on hers, kissing her. Her first reaction was panic and she pushed him away and looked up at him.

A crooked smile spread across his face, one that sent a shiver through her. Then a different sort of feeling moved through her, sharp and almost painful. It wasn't like the pain from her tumors, it was much sweeter, like a haunting pressure that was pushing her closer to Jareth, closer to the man she was supposed to _hate_. She was supposed to hate him, right?

_Right?_

But then she did something she never thought she would. She grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him to her and kissed him. Not just the gentle brushing kiss of a hesitant lover, but a fierce thing that was sharp like the pain she felt and sweet like the rum on his breath.

When she bit his lip he made a short yelp and pulled away from her. A sense seemed to come back to his eyes.

"What are you _doing_?" He said.

"What do you think I'm doing?" She asked and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

"What are you doing?"

Germy.

Sarah stopped what she was doing. She seemed to be doing many strange things lately. A wave of pain ran through her as if to remind her that her actions were probably the result of her dying. She was rushing to feel every sensation, know every joy and sorrow that comes with living a long and happy life, all in a matter of a few weeks. For in a few weeks she would be dragged into a hospital, smashed into a starchy, over-used bed to be poked and prodded at until the inevitable end came about. Even if they managed to stop the pain, even rid her of some of the tumor, her life expectancy was twenty-four years old. It would be a painful life, those five years of survival, but she knew that to be herself she would have to fight her way through, put on a stubborn show of angry fierceness that would be bought by her family members.

Jareth's voice brought her back from her thoughts.

"Sarah?" _Seeruuh?_

She met his drunken eyes, for a moment imagining they were dripping amber tears of alcohol, and then she smiled and laughed haphazardly.

She eyed Germy who stood nervously near the empty throne his eyes, yellow and wide.

"Quite the friendly greeting, usually I'm not so bold." She did something very un-Sarah like and peered at the cuticles on her right hand, something she'd seen the Goblin King do in an attempt to appear indifferent.

Drunk or not Jareth appeared as coy and as indifferent as he always did. It was something Sarah supposed he had practiced until it became second nature. She found that as she peered at him he was swaying on his feet, near fainting as far as she could judge.

"Come on you," A motherly concern broke over the nineteen year old. Here was one thing she was good at, caring for a slobbery, sleepy creature of mysteries that ranged from eating habits to brain power. She caught him under his arms and slung him over her shoulder. "Which was is your room?"

Germy pointed a thin finger toward the staircase. He led her toward the north tower, and up so many staircases she was near ready to toss Jareth down the stairs and collapse. However a slave to her maternal instincts she dragged him up the stairs to a huge metal door. It was made of iron, a fact that shocked her because all her fairytales had told her that iron harmed the Fae. It had a padlock and a knocker, this time the face was not a goblin, but of a girl. Sarah squinted at her. She was not alive like the other knockers had been, yet there was a life-like quality about her face. She had a nice shaped head; though it was a slightly greenish-metallic color it had nice form and sturdiness to it. The hair circling the face was long and braided so intricately that Sarah got confused trying to tell which braid from the next. It was only after a period of deep concentration that Sarah realized that the face was her own, mirrored back to her, but overlooking this fact she knocked on the door with the loop hanging from her doppelganger's mouth and the door, upon command, opened.

She stumbled into the dark room, the king's heavy warm body clung to her and she stuck out an awkward arm to maneuver her way through the room. When her eyes grew accustomed she began to make out shapes of furniture and ornaments. When finally she came to what felt like a bed she dropped the drunk king on it's surface and proceeded to sink down on the silky sheets next to him. She felt the rustling and heard the soft grunts as Germy climbed up onto the bed and she opened her arms so he could crawl up and snuggle against her chest. For now things could be simple, the king wouldn't remember the kiss, and she would pretend to be cancer free for a while and nothing would stop her from living her life. Until her life ended.

"…when love is formed all kinds of separation can be undone, love reaches beyond death, looks beyond beauty or ugliness and never breaks, only changes…" S. Williams _Love's Last Maze_


	5. Chapter 5

*****This story is dedicated to my grandma, Laura, breast cancer survivor, now fighting parkinsis disease, I love you*****

**Chapter 5: Waking up, and or **_**The Rose**_

Sarah rolled over, the muscles in her back melting inside her joyfully. When had her bed gotten so soft and comfortable? She ran her hands through the sheets, they felt silky and smooth under her hands. She tugged the warm blanket over herself to her chin and turned to her side, her cheek snuggled up against an odd feeling pillow.

"Good morning precious," Her eye shot open and her body stiffened. "I don't think I've ever been used as a pillow before, I find I quite like it."

Cursing Sarah jumped up from the bed and fell backward. The floor, though covered in a rug was hard and cold an unwelcome change.

The Goblin King peered down at her groggily. She smoothed out her shirt and glanced up at him with shadowed eyes.

"If you don't mind me asking," He folded his arms under his chin and leaned on them, looking down at her. "Why were you in my bed?"

Sarah was sitting on a study chair, keeping her eyes on the giant bookcase in front of her. Jareth was not far away, talking to Germy, and his tone was not pleasing. He had after listening to her story of arriving here and finding him drunk he had shuffled her and her goblin most rudely into an old study. They had waited there for an hour until he had come again, this time dressed.

"I don't see why you had to lock us up in here," Sarah grumped and grumbled in her chair. Germy peered over the king's shoulder from where he stood on the table.

"I'll deal with you my dear in a moment; I just need to ask Master Germy a few questions."

"You won't get anything out of him," Sarah held out her arms to the goblin and he skittered over to her and burrowed himself in her hold. The king turned and cocked an eyebrow at the two of them.

"And I suppose I won't get anything out of you either precious?" He smiled a silky grin.

She only smiled in answer. A pain hit her and she stiffened and the blood drained from her cheeks for a moment.

Jareth was watching her with a look that was almost anxious but it was such a brief expression that Sarah only could half-believe it was true. When she glanced down at Germy he was frowning at her angrily, he knew her pain was not just her period. She frowned back at him and shook her head, wiling him to remain silent.

"Are you hungry?" She asked her goblin and instantly the creature's cross expression turned chipper and filmy with the desire of food.

She looked up at Jareth and he only waved a hand in response, ushering her toward a wall. As soon as she stood and walked to the blank wall a door began to form. It was silver and reached high to the ceiling. With Germy cradled on her hip she tried to twist the crystal knob but found it locked.

"Sir…" She was cut off when a gloved had touched her shoulder and his lips brushed her ear.

"This key will open any door for you in the Castle, except my room, of course." He put a silver key in her hand, it was cold and it pierced her skin into alarmed attention. She could feel something seeping off of the silver, magic among other things and a spell.

When she tried to turn to face him he had vanished, leaving only the empty smell of books and goblin. She looked at the door.

"I suppose this is our room Germy?" She said and unlocked the door. It swung open on its own accord and revealed a beautiful display.

The walls were covered by pale lavender curtains, none left exposed and the floor was marble. She looked at the ceiling which was all one large mirror that reflected the lights of the chandeliers, which dusted the floor with their crystal bottoms. In the center of the room was a hole in the ground, a circular break in the marble that was home to a violet bed, fitted to the hole and covered in pillows and small sweet smelling lilacs. Over the bed hung a small mobile made of violets and lilacs, with a small round crystal at its end. A vanity at the far side of the room was home to an assortment of vials, probably holding perfumes, and a small wire cobweb hanging off the top of the mirror had many pairs of earrings, rings, and necklaces hanging from it. It was all so dreamlike and strange, as beautiful and unfamiliar yet she recognized it instantly. It was the Bubble Ballroom, transformed to be her chamber.

"Lookie! Lookie!" Germy leaped toward the vanity and snatched something up in his hands Sarah hadn't noticed before.

"What is it?" She smiled kindly and crouched down to take it from him. "Oh my."

The music box began to play as though her touch had fueled it to life. She watched the little figurine spinning on little slipper covered toes, the white gossamer skirt twinkling in the light. Germy was invested in the box, staring at it with wide eyes, a gap-toothed smile on his face.

He stood up as tall as he could stretch and began to sing, loudly and very out of key. "There's such a sad love! Deep in your eyes! A kind of pale jewel! Ooopened and closed within your eyes! I'll place the skkkkkyyyyy within your eyes!"

Laughing Sarah fell back against the smooth ground. "Germy!" An eruption of giggles. "Germy! Please you're killing me!"

"Yes, Master Germ you are killing me as well."

Sarah opened her damp eyes, wet with tears of joy and stared up at the Goblin King who was standing over her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I wish." Sarah said in answer to him. He sneered down at her.

"Such a foolish child, aren't I being generous to you?"

Sarah only cocked an eyebrow in answer. His squatted down over her head, leaning down his long neck so his nose brushed her forehead. His endless eyes cut into hers fiercely and for a moment she had something to fear more then cancer. Then they softened like wax and he raised an eyebrow.

"'So many roses to pluck, is the thorn-less bud my choice? The child among struggled faces, the beauty among tasteless graces, is this rose? My rose and star?' This he did ask in his won gentle way though fiercely, grasped her limbs, wrestled her affection with his desires, his captured rose." His whispers were soft though they raise flame in her skin and a blush to her cheeks.

"The Rose… you know my poetry?" She asked.

He looked amused. "'Friendless foe!' The rose declares at the burning second of final pain."

"'Love knows no foes,' kiss meets knifed hearts, no loved lips burnt by the fires of passion's child and the rose may die…"

"Yet a rose is forever and so has she been"

"So charred by truth and by his mouth."

"His masks and his mendacity."

"So this kiss, this wish, this final pain."

"May be his last breath, his last heart's wish."

"From first physical ache."

"His first needs and first love."

She stopped, afraid of the next line. But he said it for her.

"She is the love and the meaning for life, or his life if he knows it, so he does kiss…" He moved and his mouth met hers softly, and he hung over her mouth so when he whispered his lips brushed her. "And loves his rose, the rose with no thorns and no pain and all the pain in the world."

She was burning with her blush; sure she would turn to cinders from the heat of it all. But he straightened and peered down at her with blankness.

"I do not understand you Sarah, I just don't _understand_ you." He smiled in an exhausted manner. To her surprise she started to cry. "I just can't see the world you see, I can't see goodness. I am your villain, and you've ensnared _me_. Isn't it meant to go the other way around? I'm supposed to capture _you._" He pointed a finger at the music box and it flew to his waiting hand. It began to play.

Germy moved to Sarah's side and she sat up, half-crawling to him and he bundled himself up against her chest, understanding her distress but too young to know the cause.

"Sarah." Jareth's face contorted sadly. "Don't push me away."

A spiky pain shot through her, the tumor flaming within her. She groaned aloud, squishing Germy as she curled up tightly._ You have got go to the hospital._ Her inner wisdom was near insanity bantering her.

"Sarah! Tell me what's wrong!"

Her mind was spinning in the agony of it all; sweat starting to drip on her flesh, though she was shaking with the cold around her. Her face was soaked in her tears. Germy squirmed away. Jareth was on his knees in front of her, his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"Sarah!"

"Stop it!" She screamed. Her hands began to pound on his chest, punching and hitting weakly. She pushed him backward so he was on his back on the hard floor. "Just stop it! Stop! I can't take it!" She gripped his face between her hands, her hair hanging over his face like a curtain. His eyes were confused, though unafraid. "I can't take you like this. You can't understand _me_? I can't understand _you_! Love me, fear me, do as I say and I will be your slave. You are a walking contradiction, full of double negatives and riddles I don't have the time to solve. But that's just the point, I don't have time! No time. SO I can't deal with you like this Jareth. I can't spend the last days of my life contemplating like a school girl if you like me or not! It's pathetic."

His expression changed. It was dangerously concerned and it shook her heart to pieces. "What do you mean your last days?" He gripped her wrists tightly before she could squirm he rolled her onto her back so he was holding her down. "Tell me; for once, just tell me!"

_Dear Diary,_

_Today should have been like any normal day. I made breakfast for myself and Toby, I read a book, wrote more of my book, took a shower… But it's so strange and new, this day is so bland and cold. Karen wont stop crying. Dad is just sitting in the chair in front of the TV, though it's not even on. The only normal one is Toby and he's doesn't even know the news, so I guess he doesn't count. As I was saying, it should just be a normal Sunday, but it isn't. I went to the doctor today, and the tests finally came through. It's really there inside me, the cancer. It makes me want to scratch my stomach, odd right? I just want to scratch it off and scrape it out from under my nails and flick it away. I want to live. I want to see the Labyrinth again. I want to see Hoggle and Ludo and Dydimus. I want to see the goblins. The chickens. I want to see everything. I want to see him so bad too. I just want to see him again. I feel so stupid, like a child. I'm going to die soon, so why shouldn't I let myself feel childish? I hate this. I hate this. I hate this! I just want everything to be normal again. If it were I know I would go to the Labyrinth again, see everyone. I'd kiss him. I'd kiss him… What am I going to do?_

_S. Williams_

Sarah shuffled around the bedroom, moving in circles, a nervous habit of hers. Germy was on the bed, thinking quietly to himself that his mama was a jumpy thing and wondering if there was anything he could do to make her feel better. He sighed and poked at the peach cobbler she'd given him to eat. Her own meal was untouched, left to rot on the vanity table while she scurried about in anxious agony.

"You coulda just told Jay-jay," he said.

The door opened before Sarah could answer and she squealed. But it wasn't Jareth who walked through the door, it was Hoggle. Sarah was relieved until she saw the dwarf was glaring, angry and his eyes looked about ready to shoot angry arrows out from his pupils.

"Of all the terrible things in this world, I shouldn't have heard from that rat Jareth that you're ill!" He was very angry, though his voice did not reflect it usually, being low and quiet near a whisper. The air felt tense and dangerous. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It can't be helped, darling," She said gently, trying to calm the angry dwarf. "This kind of sickness has no cure."

The dwarf put a hand on her arm, his touch warm and welcomed. She looked down into his piercing blue eyes. Then she collapsed into his arms in a close embrace, shaking as the onslaught of tears hit her.

"I don't know what to do," She said, rubbing her eyes dry fiercely. "I'm going to die…"

"No, no you're not." He said.

"There's nothing you can do."

"I bet he could do something."

Sarah pulled out of the hug and looked at him, her eyes as angry as his had been moments before. "Then I'd be in debt to him! He would never help me without a price! I would have him hanging over my every move until I paid him back and whatever he wants would probably take my entire life to pay back. If I asked for his help I _would_ owe _him_ my life, Hoggle."

The dwarf raised an eyebrow, an odd expression on his wrinkled face. "Sarah," he said, "Why won't you ask him? Even if it meant living against dying?"

Sarah wouldn't answer him. She merely sighed and looked at Germy who had been watching the conversation and had evidently fallen asleep with his face in his cobbler. She gave a sort of maternal smile in his direction and shook her head. Then she stood and moved across the room to lift his face out of his food and wipe it off with a napkin. She lifted him with one hand, his torso stretched over the plain of her palm, his head and limbs hanging over her fingers and wrist. He mumbled in his sleep, but the small goblin didn't wake as she took the step down into the circular arena of the bed and settled him on a pile of pillows and draped one of the many blankets of dizzying different shades of violet over him. She came back up and looked at Hoggle with a sorry expression.

"You should really talk to him," Hoggle said and started for the door. "He is a bit of a mess."

She frowned slightly. Then she asked before he could vanish. "Where is he?"

Hoggle turned and looked at her. Then he pointed to the key Jareth had given her, which she held in her hand to fiddle with.

"The key will take you there if you ask."

She looked down at it in her hands. When she looked back at where Hoggle had been he was gone and the door was shut. A new dimness came over the room and Sarah felt its weight. The lights around the room shuddered and it became considerably dark, as though by magic to match her mood that was on a downward spiral.

She moved to the door and stuck the key in the hole with conviction before she could go coward and run to hide in her bed. Then she stood there, gritting her teeth, internally cursing herself.

"Come _on _feet." She urged, but to her growing anxiety the door knob turned inside her hand and the door was pulled open on its own accord. The room before her was dark, though she could tell no one had opened the door, no one was there. She hesitated then stepped out into the darkness, wondering if her faint wish to the key had worked.

Her abdomen ache and she clutched it as she moved through the thick blackness. Then suddenly her hand came in contact with what felt like skin, then hair and she gasped.

"Sarah, take your hand out of my hair please." Jareth's voice lit the darkness, dimly but enough for her to see she was near combing her fingers through his tawny mess. She sprung backward colliding with a beam that held a crystal which tumbled to the ground, smashing the crystal into a thousand glittering pieces. It had been the crystal that lit the darkness and it's pieces made light come from the ground rather then the air. She fell down to knees to pick up the pieces and found the king squatting beside her, taking hold of her hands, which were bleeding from the shards. His eyes glowed in the odd light, and he leaned his forehead against hers so their faces were close.

"Sarah, leave it be," He whispered. "We need to talk."

_Review please! I'm so sorry for the delay I was working on some other stories, trying to finish a chapter for __**King of Ice; Queen of Dreams**__ which I suggest you all read! Please! _


	6. Chapter 6

**Dear Readers and Reviewers:**

**Some of you have been expressing some concerns for Sarah's depression and inability to battle her disease with her usual vigor in this story. The cancer she has been diagnosed with is pancreatic cancer, where tumors spread along the pancreas and so on through the body. This particular cancer is to this day the most deadly and painful of cancers. Its survival rate is slim to none and even those who make it into remission don't last another five years of life. In Sarah's time, the nineties, these survival rates were worse and the disease more painful, though not much has changed up to 2011. Chemotherapy and radiation also have poor results for patients which is why Sarah hesitates and doesn't want to go to the hospital. I hope now her attitude makes a little more sense. I chose this cancer for her for a particular reason, and I hope you understand soon. Meanwhile, enjoy the story, this chapter is a bit of an emotional roller coaster, but I felt it was needed. Please review! Thank you all!**

**~Virgin Queen 15**

**P.S. - the alternate ending suggested was lovely, but not what I had originally intended for this story. However, if enough of you want it I will write an ending different then the original that will correlate with the suggestion.**

**Chapter 6: In which very raw emotion is exposed**

"Talk?" Sarah tried to squirm her way free, but it was impossible to escape his hold.

"Yes." He said and drew her suddenly into a hug. It was an odd feeling, the simple platonic hug; she was lined up with him, heart beating against his. Life thrumming against another life. A tear escaped her eye without her noticing until it was running down her cheek. She realized then the sparks of energy running through her, the odd life that she could feel flowing into her. _Is it Jareth's?_ His hold on her was tight, though warm as it was there was a chilliness about him that was comforting. His hands on her back weren't annoying hot or clammy, they were cool and gentle on her. Her own skin, she could now feel was searing wretchedly.

"Your highness…" She said, "Please let go of me."

Sighing he did so and she fell back into the dimness, trying to roll onto her haunches and scrunch up in a ball. Jareth was, though a bit more graceful mirrored her position. In the light, which could hardly be called light for it was only emanating from broken shards of crystal about the ground, he looked skeletal, like a lithe human that should have been born a creature of the sky. The glow only shone on the angles of his face, which were all sharp and lined as though planned by a sculptor, and rather then accentuate the broadness of his shape the light slimmed it out until only a strip of light ran down his chest and twin segments for the legs were the only indication of his lower half. For a moment, it reminded Sarah vaguely of the Grim Reaper. Elegantly enveloped in the darkness, the image made her tears spill wildly.

"Sarah?"

In his eyes the light was playing tricks on her image too; having the same slimming effect only on her it was more abstract. With her dark hair barely lit, only a few strands on show, her face looked skull-like in its sunken way, her eyes dark holes in her head. When she began to cry and her body shook with the force of her swallowed sobs Jareth could no longer stand it.

"Damn this light!" He slammed his fist down on the ground and the crystals went dark all at once.

Strange as it was Sarah felt herself relax immediately in the darkness, to the point where even the pain in her abdomen was forgotten and she could lay back on the ground and relax. Jareth, during this time relaxed as well, listening to her sigh and change her position, smooth her hair away from her face; such trivial little sounds he found treasuring.

"Sarah?"

"Yes?"

"What is cancer?"

"You can't say you haven't heard of it?" She said, amused. "You travel to Aboveground all the time."

"To fetch younglings and threaten runners. I haven't vacationed there since that damn bubonic plague came about." He answered.

He did not understand why this made Sarah laugh. Calmed down, she reached forward in the blackness, which her eyes were not getting used to, and found his hand. It was cool and smooth to her touch and pleasing to feel.

"Cancer is a sickness, a disease really and it comes in many different forms," she said. "It's bad cells spreading over an organ or bone, or even skin. The cells are called tumors. They spread throughout the body if left unchecked and poison other cells. There are hundreds of different kinds of cancers, but nearly all of them are fatal and impossible to cure. I have pancreatic cancer." It felt like a painful confession as though she was admitting to a great sin. "It is a cancer that is rare for people my age and incredibly deadly. Even if we can stop the cells from spreading I'm too far along, the third stage, and I won't live another five years of life even if we can stop the cancer."

"Where could she be?" Linda whispered. Robert's eyes were worn and swollen with tears. Karen was much the same, curled up on the couch with tiny Toby in her arms. The child was so confused and lonely, he wanted Sary. He just didn't know what to do with the adults behaving the way that they were. Sary's mommy, Auntie Linda, was as pale as his own Mommy and she wouldn't stop biting her nails nervously. Toby sat up and crawled out of his mothers arms. He was not going to sit here anymore amid all the tears and confusion. He went to his sister's room and pulled himself up into her vanity chair. Looking in the mirror he murmured in a little voice; "I need you Sary."

The five year old waited, hoping that somehow she would appear to him. But she didn't.

It was though in the darkness Sarah could see everything. Her eye had adjusted and Jareth was beside her, his eyes clamped shut while she explained as much as she could to him. It was mostly a game of repeating scraps of information and having Jareth fume about his confusion.

"Explain it again." He demanded.

"Well, you see pancreatic cancer is rare in someone as young as me, the only real reason for me getting it at this age is because of my genetics, meaning my family bloodline. When we discovered that I had the cancer I was already so far into it that the tumor had spread from my pancreas into my body. Radiation was out of the question and a pancreaticoduodenectomy wouldn't work either."

"A what?"

"Surgery to remove the tumor," She explained shortly. "My only other option is Chemotherapy. But that is not something I want to do. Karen and my Dad are keen on me getting it, even though my gut is telling me it won't work. The deal we struck was that I could live for about a month on my own, and then they would take me away, stuff me in a hospital bed and make all my hair fall out." She didn't mean to yell the last bit, but it came out loud and angry.

Jareth was stiff, but he didn't say a word, how could he? Sarah shuffled away in the blackness and reached forward into it, as though to grasp the life that was slipping away from her.

"You know," She said and her voice was so soft and so weak. "I thought that one day when I had lived a human life for a few years I would come back to this place, but I never thought it would be under these circumstances." She hitched a breath and a hand went up to clutch her abdomen and she sighed. When she glanced at Jareth through the dark his face was pained.

"You…" She bit her lip. "You really aren't a monster are you?"

His expression was helpless, he held out a hand to her as if pleading for her consent for his magic to destroy her tumor.

"No, sire." She said and shook her head. "I really cannot let you; your pity is not worth my life."

"It isn't pity." He said.

"Then what is it?" She moved a step toward him, her throat thick with an onslaught of sobs that she suffered to contain.

"I…" Jareth stared at her, his heart beating faster then ever. "I… I don't know…" His hand dropped and suddenly the sobs died in her throat and Sarah could be angry again.

"Then I think it's only pity, you want to save me because I'm your favorite pet, am I right? You want me to live so you can watch me like the sick bastard you are through your little crystals." She took a dangerous step toward him, but he did not retreat. "You want to save me so you can toy with me, dress me up and dance me into insanity! Well, I am sorry to burst your bubble Jareth but I'm not going to be treated like an animal! It's not fair and even though I love you I can't let you do that to me anymore!" She was about to turn and burst from the room when the meaning of her words hit her. Oops. But her regret didn't last long and suddenly she was snatched up into a warm embrace and soft lips met hers and she was lost. She whimpered against his mouth, a pleading sound for release but it only drove him into deeper insanity and he turned his head slightly to kiss her deeper. She tried to push against him, tried to push him away but he was stronger then her and she really did not _want_ to push him away. She realized that, in an instant and for a moment drowned in the epiphany of it all. Then she started to kiss him back, rough and hungry and he made a sound like a laugh in his throat before pulling away from her lips and looking down at her.

"You do want to live…" He murmured and smiled a sweet gentle smile that made Sarah smile back.

"I suppose… I suppose I do."

"Suppose!" He grinned. "What cheek you have! Such a stubborn child…" He smoothed her hair, taking a stray strand and lifting it to his lips.

As though angered her tumor flamed inside and she bent over, her vision obscured, though being in the darkness meant that didn't matter.

Jareth lifted her up in his arms. The room lit up in an instant and Sarah was blinded by it. Above her, once her sight came clear, she saw a stained glass ceiling, the image of a barn owl of a sweet honey color. It's brown wings were wrapped around a snow owl with green-grey eyes that glinted in the light. The entire room was circular, the walls made of shelves were filled with books and crystals and same statues of goblins and fairies. There was one wall that stood out from the others it was blank and stood as the back to a large desk that was covered in documents and feathered pens and bottles of silver ink. Sarah peered around the room curiously and looked to Jareth for an answer.

"I did ask that those documents from the High Council be removed before you arrived, but goblins are not good housekeepers." Jareth said.

"Wait, you mean this room is for me?" Sarah asked.

Nodding, he gestured to the books elegantly. "My private study is yours." He smiled and Sarah struggled out of his arms. He watched in delight as she dashed to the books, fingering the spins as she read the titles. Her smile was luminous.

She turned to him, his heart fluttered as her smile glowed.

"Jareth." She said. "Thank you." Her smiled lessoned in depth and she looked at the book her finger had stopped on. Her expression grew worrisome. Jareth, concerned, moved to her side, placing a gloved hand on her shoulder.

"What is it?" He asked. "Is there something you want?"

"No!" She said. "I couldn't want for anything now. But, if you help me…what are your terms for payment?"

"Payment…" He sighed, thinking.

Then he took her in his arms again and buried his face in her neck.

"Your life is payment enough." He whispered and began to lay small kisses on her neck, quick little touches that made her shiver.

"That couldn't be all you want."

"Of course not," He said. "But it's enough."

"Liar. I won't ask for such a thing if you don't let me pay you back in full." She said.

"Ugh!" He said. "You're so stubborn. But fine then! If you insist."

He turned her to face him, his hands holding her arms firmly. "I ask that you spend a night here in Underground, with me, not as a girl indebted to me, as a friend. A dear friend."

"That's it?" She asked. Tears had begun to well in her eyes, a reaction she didn't understand. "Jareth I would owe you my life!"

"So?"

"I only have one life! You're giving it back to me and you just want a night to spend with me and then I'm free?"

His face darkened. He sighed. "Sarah… in saving you there is a price you will pay, but not to me. I cannot save you without changing you into one of my kind. In doing this… you wont be able to go to Aboveground ever again. You're family will forget you. You will be trapped as an immortal in Underground."


	7. Chapter 7

**Finally, I have a longer chapter to offer you. I make no promises that you'll like the ending of the story(maybe in the next two chapters). I think I mentioned this before if any of you want an alternate ending I will happily write one. Please review! Your ideas and opinions and constructive criticism make my day!**

**~Virgin Queen **

**Chapter 7: Sarah's Star or The Lonely Have Love**

You've got Mail:

From:

To:

Sarah-

You're parents have been worried out of their minds! Where have you been? This is not just your editor talking! This is Clare your best friend! I don't know where you are but I received your emails with updates on the third nov. Sarah it's the most amazing story you've come up with yet. But please where are you? I can't just sit around editing your work without knowing where you are, what you're doing and whether or not you're in pain. Please darling! Tell me where you are.

With love,

Clare

You've got Mail:

From:

To:

Clare-

I miss you so much! And I'm with a very dear friend of mine. Don't worry he's taking amazing care of me. He used to be a doctor; he knows how to make me feel better. I'll be home in another two weeks or so. Let my parents know. Where I am there isn't a working phone. I know it doesn't sound great he just doesn't have a working phone line. And he's got the sweetest nephew named Xander, he's about four. I'll call you when I come home.

With love,

Sarah

You've got Mail:

From:

To:

Sarah-

Who are you with?

-Clare

You've got Mail:

From:

To:

His name is Jareth.

You've got Mail:

From:

To:

Sarah. He's real?

You've got Mail:

From:

To:

Yes. Clare… I think I love him.

You've got Mail:

From:

To:

Oh, good god honey. What are you going to do?

You've got Mail:

From:

To:

Clare, I'm going to do what I can. I've made a life here with him. I only wish that I had called him much sooner.

You've got Mail:

From:

To:

I trust you Sarah. I hope I'll see you soon.

With love,

Clare

Sarah turned off the computer. She turned to Germy, who was curled up in a warm ball on one of her pillows. Ever since Jareth had fetched her computer for her from her apartment she'd read her stories aloud to her goblin every night. Most of the time he fell asleep so early she could get a lot of work done, and get a chance to check her emails. Clarissa had been so anxious lately, once Sarah started sending her emails with chapters of her stories. But Sarah did her best to avoid the questions. The least Clare knew the better.

Sarah stood, smoothing out the white nightgown she was wearing. It was silk, spun by giant spiders Jareth had told her. There were tiny pearls along the collar with little butterflies and gossamer designs. She wrapped a green robe made out of similar silk around her body and put on the lace slippers Jareth had given her with the little emeralds sewn over the top. She walked out of her room, leaving Germy to sleep and her computer to sit. Outside she walked the long halls, looking at paintings that hung, the crystals that floated through the air lazily held images of the Labyrinth and she could look and find her friends Hoggle, Ludo, Dydimus and smile at their day to day activities. But she didn't feel like that then, she was in search of something, someone in particular, whom she hadn't seen since her computer was placed and wired into her bedroom at the Castle. She knew where his room was, but the door wouldn't open with the key, no matter how she twisted it. The little silver key hung around her neck always; she didn't find the need to take it off. Wandering she fingered the key, thinking.

She came across the door to the Throne Room and paused. Then decidedly she opened the door. Inside it was quiet. Not even a stray chicken was there. No one was there, which made her heart drop. Her abdomen flared and she clutched it for a moment, moving slowly on numb legs to the throne where she crumpled down upon it. The pain subsided and Sarah sighed, a crop of sweat over her forehead shiny. The glow of the setting sun attracted her eye and she moved, still slowly in the shadow of pain, and sat on the wide sill to peer out at the beautiful sky.

The warm dusk light swallowed her and she hummed an old song she remembered from a dusty memory. A memory filled with tears, laughter, tripping over stones and over childhood vanity. A memory of trying to be an adult while still so young and so foolish.

Above her the first star was born in the fading light and she smiled up at it, thinking of a wish.

"I wish…" She mused and giggled. "I'm not sure what to wish for."

"Wish for anything."

Sarah jumped and turned. Jareth smiled gently and moved to join her at the window. He was wearing a baggy black shirt with billowy sleeves. His pants were relaxed, ending mid-thigh. He wore no shoes. And no gloves.

"Even a star?" Sarah asked and looked back up at the first star in the sky.

"Which one do you want?"

She looked at him, but he was looking at the sky, as though ready to find the star she wanted. Laughing, she shook her head. "I don't really need a star."

She watched his eyes, troubled but beautiful in their complexity and design. A wave of enthusiasm swept through them and he looked to her with a child's smile and said, "You may not need one, but I'm going to give you one."

He turned purposefully toward the sky, a deep purple, like a kind of Underground rum she'd seen Hoggle drink when he visited. Laughing again, Sarah moved to look with him.

"Pick one." He said.

She scanned the sky; her logical mind telling her she really couldn't pick a star, while her childish whimsy was searching for the star that pleased her most. And she found one, with a green glow ringed in an azure crown of color. It was intensely bright, as all the stars were in Underground. It was one of the few in the sky during the late dusk, so she pointed it out to Jareth without trouble.

"Oh my…" He mumbled, looking at the star.

"What is it?" Sarah asked, frowning at his peculiar expression.

He gave her a glimpse, filled with mystery and drew close to whisper, "That star is _mine_."

"What?" Sarah asked, confused.

He drew back and gestured to the sky. "When Royal Fae like me are born a new star is born in the sky. That one is named Amorus, the king of the owls and it began to shine on the day of my birth. It is strange that you should pick that one…" He looked at her, his head cocked. "Fate plays rotten games."

Sarah felt embarrassed. Turning away she felt the tug on her abdomen as the fire ripped up through her. But his time the fire started lower, and it was not painful. She found to her shame a pool of heat rise in her, with the nearness of the king, the smell of him like a dreadfully sweet scented elixir. There was a new haunting feeling in the air as the night began to settle around them and they sat on the wide window sill, both retracting from the other yet both leaning on the edge of falling into each other and settling in the entangled coupling of their exhaustion in one and other. Tension in the air was thick and unnerving. Speech had fallen into silence and Sarah felt that from here there was only two paths to take. She was frightened of each.

"Have you made your choice?" His voice sent a flurry of thoughts across her mind and she struggled to make sense of what he meant. Then he locked eyes with hers and his meaning came clear.

She blinked her eyes as worried wetness began to blur her vision. "How can I make such a choice? I have no idea what to do." She looked back up at the sky and bit her lip.

"Sarah…"

"May I have your star?" She asked her voice soft and barely audible.

Jareth's face was a torment of expression and he looked at the sky again in defeat. He pointed a bare finger at the star, whispering a fast chant Sarah couldn't discern and the star blinked and twitched in it's violet cradle of sky. The star began to fall. Like a drop of water it fell and then soared toward them. Sarah thought it would grow immensely large as it drew close, but it grew only to the size of Germy's fist. Hovering in front of her, it was a strange little thing, a twisting tangle of streams of light and color, all blue and green. It sparkled and light spilled from it and Sarah couldn't help but laugh at the delightful sight of such a piece of magic.

"May I touch it?" She asked, her fingers drawn up on their own accord, hovering a breathe away from it.

"Yes, carefully." His own hands moved to cup hers and guide them to touch the warm glowing star. She cried out happily, it felt like water, but was not wet and was warm. It felt near alive under her touch. Jareth's warm fingers intertwined with hers and he moved her hands around the star, then he drew his hands away and she held the star on her own.

"Whenever you need it," He said his voice husky. "You may only whisper it's name and it will come and be your light."

She released the star and it drifted up toward the ceiling and moved about the room like a vagabond child set to play on its own. Looking at the king she felt a tremor run through her again and this time she acted upon the change within her, knowing her choice, knowing it's consequences. Hoping she could find a way to smile about it. It would hurt to lose so much but she had to remember how much she would be gaining. A small part of her wondered if she would be gaining Jareth. He would be no consolation prize, she knew that. Immortality was no prize either.

"How do you live with it?" She asked.

"With what?" He rubbed the peak of his nose between his forefinger and thumb tiredly.

"Knowing you have to live forever."

"It's _only_ forever." He smirked, but it was kind.

"It must be lonely." She wondered aloud.

"My kind can only love once."

She frowned. "Then…if you fall in love with a monster…?"

"Then we love them forever." He said. "Though you are most certainly no monster."

Sarah drew her legs up under her so she could set her chin upon her knees. "Do you mean everything you say?" She asked softly. His deep eyes were bottomless.

"I do."

A magic stung the air. Sarah looked into his eyes, remembering their previously shared kiss. She blinked and found, for once, her eyes were dry and she wasn't crying. "You are very lonely, aren't you." There was no question in her voice.

Jareth raised and eyebrow at her and smirked. "No, never lonely. I have an entire kingdom to worry over." His smirk was replaced by a smile. "I have no time for loneliness."

Sarah leaned forward and stared into his miss-matched eyes. Then she whispered, "'I was king of many lands, ruler over all hands, when my name was mentioned, it rang with glory and pride, and I was the master…'"

Jareth smiled, "I greatly enjoy your poetry."

"Do you know the next line?" She asked.

He smiled proudly, "'Master of the world, and yet only my world, I was lacking in nothing,'"

"'Yet yearning for everything,'"

"'For gathering in my empty halls,'"

"'Were the ghosts of my forbearers and the kings who were masters before me.'"

"'And one great spirit came to my throne and whispered fear in my ear,'"

"'He asked me, where was my bride? The queen to turn my head and share my side.'"

"'And for the first time of a life I lived in glory my shame was stronger then anything,'"

"'The ghost cackled at me and said…'" Sarah paused in waiting for him to say the next line, though he bit his lip. So she continued. "'Fool of fools, you lonely king! How can you rule without your queen to love you?'"

"'And my answer was a whisper, as my world fell down around me, my marble walls began to crumble,'"

"'I said, I did not know.'"

A blank emptiness filled the air between them. Sarah broke it by reaching her hand forward and grasping his. The sigh that emanated from the Goblin King was like a moan. And he said roughly, "Your willing touch is like a burn."

She began to retract her hand, but he caught hold of it tightly and drew it up to his mouth to kiss. His lips were soft on her even softer skin and she smiled when he laid her palm on his cheek to hold. The star that lit the room danced happily as though excited by some matter or another and flitted toward the throne.

Sarah brightened, "May I sit in your throne?"

Laughing, the king nodded and released her hand, though achingly and let her dance about the room to the grand throne. She seated herself in the great chair and squirmed, trying to find a comfortable position. She threw her legs over the arm, sending her skirt high up her thigh and draped her head back over the other arm, sighing.

"It's more comfortable then I thought it would be." She said.

Jareth moved and sat down at the feet of the throne, "Hail Queen Sarah," He joked. "May she live forever."

"I intend to!" She said with a great flourish.

Jareth stood and bowed deeply from the waist. "May I have this dance, my queen?"

"A mere commoner to ask me such a thing?" She tapped her bottom lip, which was puckered in question and tilted her head. "Well, he is devilishly handsome… Yet how can I trust he won't put me to shame with his unjustly dance steps?"

"You have my unending guarantee, my lady." He promised. His smile was dark and alluring.

Sarah raised an eyebrow, then held out her hand for him to grasp. His grip was firm, but Sarah felt if she really wanted to he would hold her back from escape. She placed her free hand on his shoulder and let him sweep her into a dance more vibrant and moving then one she'd ever danced before. His free arm coiled dangerously around her waist, drawing her near. He laid his face gently across hers, so they danced cheek to cheek. Then Sarah freed the hand that was in his so she could wrap her arms around his neck and lean into his hold comfortably. He in turn wrapped his arms possessively around her middle, tightly.

"Sarah," He whispered into her long hair.

"Yes?"

"Is forever in this place…my world… so damnable?" He asked. "Would you rather die then spend an eternity in Underground?"

Sarah breathed deeply. A little physical pain bloomed, then faded. She drew back so she could look at his face, which was turned away. He was a contradiction of a man. His hold on her was tight and much of their bodies were aligned and blending into the other, but when she drew back to meet his eyes he turned away, as though ashamed.

She took his chin and moved his face to look at her. But his eyes would not follow.

"Jareth, look at me." She commanded quietly.

Finally, he locked eyes with her and she couldn't help the sad smile that formed on her face. She moved to brush stray hair from his eyes.

"It's only forever, right?" She said.

The next thing the king knew, an angel was kissing him softly, her lips gentle as a slow blowing wind. He moaned a little, pained by the burning ecstasy starting to grow in him. Had he ever felt such gentleness from another living creature before? He knew he hadn't.

"Sarah," He whispered against her mouth. "You're too kind."

"How so?" Her green eyes were closed and she moved to kiss along his jaw bone, sparking nerves within him to flame.

"Are you staying here…with me?" He asked.

She reached his ear and kissed there softly. "Love me, do _not_ fear me, do what I say and I would be your slave." She said.

He laughed, though it was pained, "Precious child." He mused.

"My precious king." She whispered. And his heart shattered with love. "Cancer or no cancer. I want to be here."


End file.
